How can car manufacturers and Government make consumers wear seat belts?

Rishabh Kalra DM19135

Overview
 A study conducted in India revealed that 75% of the riders don’t wear the seatbelts. This
approximately leads to 15 deaths every day. Compared to USA and UK with 85% and 98%
usage rate respectively, usage rate in India is as low as 28%.
 Seatbelts can be very useful in preventing fatal injuries while driving. Use of seatbelts by
front seat passengers reduces the risk of terminal injuries by 50% and for back seat
passenger the risk reduction is as high as 75%.
 Almost everyone knows about these statistics but still people don’t act on these. The reason
for this is there is always a perception that anything bad or untoward won’t happen to them.
So, it becomes the responsibility of both government and car companies to urge people to
be safe.
Steps Government and car manufacturers can take
 The way a particular message is framed or delivered has a great impact on consumer’s
reaction to the message. This is called Framing effect. Consider two ways of conveying a
message:
o Likelihood of an accident in your next trip is 0.00000025
o Probability of having a fatal accident at some point in a 50-year-old driving career
in one in a hundred.
Experimentally, it was suggested by two researchers Slovic, Fischoff, and Lichtenstein,
when they conducted the study on small sample, that consumers were more likely to wear
belts in one in a hundred risk statement despite both probabilities being quantitively the
same. This can be leveraged in the awareness and advertising campaigns by car companies
or government.
 Consumers have another incentive to underuse seatbelts. There is reimbursement from
insurance companies in case of any automobile related accident. Hence, private benefit of
wearing a seatbelt is significantly lower than social benefit. Hence, insurance company’s
terms and conditions need to incentivize the use of seatbelts by reducing the disbursement
significantly in case of no seat belt.
 The use of seatbelts should be referenced against a hedonic need instead of a utilitarian
need. For example: ‘Please wear your seatbelts. Your family is waiting’ is better than
‘Please wear your seatbelts. It is important for safety’
 Considering the Elaboration Likelihood Model, consumer’s motivation to wear the
seatbelts is low. So, attitude change can happen using a peripheral route. There can be
celebrity endorsements to aid attitude change.
 Considering the Fishbein model, behavioural intention towards wearing seatbelts can be
done by leveraging subjective norms. Someone who is seen not wearing seatbelt, can be
publicly shamed in some way or ones wearing seatbelt and following other rules can be
awarded by a small flower or a memento to promote such behaviour. Also, people who are
not wearing seatbelts, their picture can be posted online with captions like Beware of these
killers. This would increase the usage as well.
 Manufacturers can also install an interlocking system which makes the car start only when
the user is wearing a seatbelt. Interlocking has many problems associated with it as well.
So, an alternative can be interlocking system is connected with air-conditioning or there is
an unpleasant music or sound which is played while you start driving without a seatbelt to
give a reminder. This will help in enhancing the memory.
 Ads with affective appeal and fear appeal can be aired either on television or in newspapers.
For example: there are many ads which show family and what risk a consumer is putting
himself or his family in by not wearing seatbelts. Using kids in the ad can also be helpful
as people love their kids. The anti-smoking campaign and another campaign by Maruti
have leveraged that. Such ads have the power to be successful. A jingle or a tagline along
with it will also be helpful as it will help in enhancing possibility of recall.
 As it is rightly said, a powerful visual is worth a thousand words. Companies and
government can start innovative and visual ad campaigns either on social media or they can
leverage the visibility large bill-boards provide.

 Another step which could be taken is an introduction of a reminder product. The product
should be visible when the driver enters the car and remind them to wear the belt. The belt
wrap doesn’t interfere with the usage of belt and isn’t visible when belt is buckled up.

 There are general excuses for not wearing a seatbelt like

o They will be saved by an airbag
o Pregnant women don’t need a seatbelt
 o They don’t want to get tangled or trapped in the car, they would rather be thrown
out
o They aren’t going fast enough to get injured
o Their driving is great, nothing would happen
There should be ad campaigns targeting especially such type of behaviour and should
increase the awareness regarding these things.
 In places like shopping mall parking, cards which remind them to wear seatbelts or which
appeal to the social influence can be given to the shoppers. These cards will facilitate the
usage of seatbelts as this will strike a chord with people as people like to conform with
social norms

 For the youth who is today eager to post everything online, a campaign can be launched
which asks them to post a selfie or a picture while they are wearing a seatbelt with a trending
hashtag. This will definitely increase usage of seatbelt among this segment.

 Authorities can not be present everywhere, hence they can take help of other drivers and
ask them to submit pictures of people who aren’t wearing seatbelts along with license plate
number. They can be fined using that. It will help in better implementation of the law.
Conclusion
 Convincing people to wear seatbelts is a difficult task. These are some of the methods which
can lead to an attitude change and can eventually save lives.

References
1. Using Market Incentives to Promote Auto Occupant Safety by John J. Donohue III, Yale
Law and Policy Review
2. The Social Psychology of Seatbelt Use by Richard Gonzalez, Colleen Seifert,Carolyn
Yoon The University of Michigan
3. The Top 10 Excuses For Not Wearing a Seatbelt Jillian Leblanc, H.B.Sc., P.Phys.
4. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/75-vehicle-users-in-india-
dont-wear-seat-belts-leading-to-15-deaths-every-day-study/articleshow/61660232.cms